Taking the rough with the smooth

I was having a bit of a crap day when I got my quilt back from the show, so when I got the judges comments back that put me in an even worse mood! Still I think I can share these with you now and have learned from them.The first one says, "Good colouring of dogs vs blanket they're lying on. Pay attention to hanging."The second says, "The dogs have real character, an unusual choice of subject".However I got quite annoyed at myself, I hadn't squared up the sides very well so it sort of hung funny which I did notice at the show and both judges had ticked the "needs attention" box. They were right about this and it is something I struggle with, along with binding. Still I am new to patchwork and it was my first ever pictorial quilt AND these are all skills that can be learned, it's not like I was marked down in design which is much harder to get your brain trained to understand. So that's good.The temptation to act like a Pink tribute act (X Factor reference) comes though when judge 1 criticises piecing accuracy and quilting. I mean, how can piecing be off in a quilt made from all different pieces? There's no points to be cut off, or frayed edges or loose seams! So I could have done with a bit more explanation. As for the quilting thing, well it's supposed to RESEMBLE HAIR- IT'S THREAD PAINTING! Tsk. I'm going to keep quilting my animals this way because I like it, and no pensioner that's had a row in the car with his wife on the way over about who should have put the bin out is going to stop me from continuing.......unless they're on about the stitch length variation then I'm probably guilty. I did swap sewing machines halfway through after all!I'm not going to be put off showing again by any means. I am going to get at least ONE excellent ticked next time I swear! And no "Needs Attention"s! At least I know what to work on ;) I am slightly embarrassed that I put a £550 price on it at the show now, but I wouldn't have wanted it to go for any less, it was worth that much for me to keep it. I never did see a guide book so I'm hoping it wasn't printed in MASSIVE numbers to further shame me. Let me know if you have a book and put my mind at rest please :)I like it so it lives above my bed now :)